Ok...I'm here in North Carolina again, going to be flying home in the morning, I don't think I honestly haven't heard of a good chunk of these kids that are wrestling...can someone give a breakdown of where they went to school this past year?

Is it true you only get a one way ride up to Fargo?

Lots of kids there that weren't at Jr.or Cadet Duals...maybe a major discount if you do both Duals and Fargo?

"Major Discount?" We are already among the cheaper states! The Fargo trip is $475 and you can go to Duals for roughly $100 already.

I think costs can be a factor but it might be way down the list.

I know of two states where the Fargo trip will cost a kid a grand yes $1,000. Colorado and Michigan both are a grand or above!

And yes ... it is true that it is a one way ticket (and expense) in fact it probably saves money. Most kids when they get beat out will go home. If we were to bus them home the cost would be substantially more!

Is it invite only to the duals? If so, maybe we should allow for the kids that love the sport but might not be the most stellar guys to go if they foot their money to compete. No way should we not have 2 full teams greco and jr with us being a cheaper state then.

The Dual team coaches start with the athletes that they believe will give Kansas the strongest team possible. If those individuals do not want to compete, they move to the next name on the list. Ultimately, and inevitably, they find themselves begging anyone remotely qualified to fill open spots. It's difficult to know what the situation will be for any particular weight class ... there have been years when several tremendously qualified wrestlers have all expressed an interest in a weight class, resulting in us leaving some great wrestlers at home. At the same time, we might go begging in another weight class.

I can assure you that the coaches make every effort possible to field a complete team.

I don't usually like to quote myself but feel it might be easier in this case!

"I've tried to make this point gently but sometimes wrestlers that want to compete on these teams need to show some interest.

The number one qualifier for these teams are the State FS/GR tourney. I know that coaches Garcia and Rieck were very visible at this tourney, trying to drum up some interest. But if for some reason a wrestler didn't compete in the State tourney he can still show his interest by competing in a couple of Freestyle/Greco tournies throughout the year!

I know that trying to get our wrestlers to commit has been a challenge. Some of the wrestlers you have mentioned have not competed in wrestling since March. Freestyle and especially Greco are unique beasts. I would suggest that if you haven't been training in these styles you probably shouldn't be making your first venture at the Jr. Duals!

I know full well, that people expressing interest is different, than actually coming through! Are there wrestlers that should be on these teams? Absolutely but I question whether they should have to begged to do so!

I have full confidence that Coaches Garcia and Rieck would like to field the best team possible for Kansas. I know they are working to find "the tons of guys!" But maybe they need a bit of help a few weeks prior instead of being second-guessed a few weeks later!"

This was a response to Swayz of the Super32 thread on the High School page,

More later ...

THey might be visible, but if they haven't seen or heard of a kid, how is a kid supposed to know who they are? I know we have tables and stuff set up, but I agree it takes initiative...which is why a lot of our guys that are stellar don't go on to wrestle in college, because they aren't pushing their name to coaches.

I'm not trying to bash on anybody and I don't want this taken the wrong way, but wrestling is kind of a good ol'boy system. If you are in with certain coaches, or you are a superstar you are going to get on the team. If not, pretty much tough luck. There are so many good wrestlers out west that don't even get considered. I know a lot of these guys do not compete in as many freestyle/greco tournaments as the guys out east, but they should still be considered. I know it is not the coaches fault or the kids fault, but I have personally talked to the coaches in the past about kids that I know that are qualified in one way or another and they tell me they are interested, but that is about as far as it goes. I have coached in other states also where this is a problem, so it is not just Kansas that this happens to. The only thing that is not right is if a kid wants to give it a try, puts up the money, and does everything asked of them, then give the kid a shot. It might not be on the first team, but being an alternate could be a big deal for that kid. Everybody has to start somewhere and why not let the kid learn and wrestle with the best. I know you aren't going to get any better if you do not challenge yourself.

I think the coaches that do coach these teams do a great job and that they need help with recruiting. If a coach or parent wants their kid on the team, let them know about that wrestler. I think it is the highschool and freestyle coaches that are to blame here. (if there is anyone to blame) Show your kids that you want them to do this stuff. Get them exposed and they will enjoy it. Overall not every one's life rotates around wrestling and it is just getting harder to keep these kids involved.

Sorry to ramble on, but just some thoughts.

I agree with you tommyt. What's sad, is in some situations a superstar name that has wrestled in very few tourneys in the FS/GR season can come in and be picked to wrestle over the kids that have been wrestling the entire season but haven't established themselves as a top notch wrestler yet.

If anything more matches at a National Level by beaing on a dual team would get some of these guys prepaired well for Fargo.

Our Fargo results indicate we need more preparation?

The cadets did great, but I think our results for the junior team shows we still have a long ways to go to be the best.

Maybe it is just me, but I was impressed with the way the Juniors performed this year. And wanna see how next year comes out. I think that Kansas has improved over the past years. The only thing is that a lot of seniors don't wrestle after their high school year! Congrats Cadets and Juniors!

Ok...what I mean by the more preparation is some of these kids we have never heard of (hypothectically speaking) go 0-2 and bbq. We know the Perez's, Furches', Cotton's and Disney's would do well...it's the guys that didn't do so well, that need to get extra matches.

Larry was one of the few that didn't participate on duals this year that did well.

This year was kind of a weird year anyways. There just wasn't as ,many tournaments to go as in years past. I don;t know why, maybe the new rule changes. It just seemed like I had a hard time finding matches until duals. Just my 2 cents worth.

Let me state just a few of my opinions since it is Sunday and I do want to spend some time with the wife since I have not seen her for a week and a half.

Randy, nailed it on the head with, yes some weights we have to leave some quality kids at home and some weights we are begging kids to wrestle in the duals. Talking to Mike and Scott, we agreed that all of our June cell phone bills were astronomical.

We had one Greco and two Freestyle teams at the Cadet level. Difficult filling every year 2nd team has had 4-6 open weights. First team has 2 to no backups. This has been our problem with why we do not place in freestyle. The boys are too beat up and they get no breaks like the other teams from some of the other states. I believe we would have placed in Freestyle this year if we would of had a full team of 26 filling 17 weights, instead of 18 kids filling 17 weights. I have apoliged to the kids. I feel we ask too much from these kids from the competitions after not giving them the training to acomplish their goals and dreams. But the kids must show an interests or who are we to say we are not pushing our sport that we love on someone who does not love it as we do.

As for Swaze and Chenowith I would love some help in recruiting for the duals. I would love our State Greco/Freestyle tournament to be more competitive. That is the number one qualification for dual teams.

As for names the state was represented well.


Jeff Vesta AA
Sharky Slyter AA
Kenneth Ornelas
Nathan Reed
Nathan McCormick
Alan Callahan
Sheldon Harr
Zach Peters
Rylan Dalke
Nicholas Rockhold
Jack Tanebaum AA
Zach Jesseph
Cameron Jesseph
Mitchell Means
C.J. Napier National Champ
Tyler Koehn Double AA
Garrett Zweygardt
Colby Crank
Devvon Ochoa
Sawyer Treinen
Sam Thoman
Cameron Riojas AA
Jordan Brown
Grant Hinckley
Romero Cotton Double National Champ
Gage Deere
Atticus Disney Double National Finalist
Brett Johnston
Stephen Andrus National Champ Double AA
Bobby Doxon AA


Tell me where is big Bob from?

Yes out west baby. And he came to wrestle Greco only. What a man's man.

I'll have more later but got to go. I'm serious about the help recruiting next year boys. I will not put these Kansas Studs out to slaughter any more. We will fill a team of 26 and then look to see if we need a 2 Freestyle team or not. I believe we have the talent we are just asking to much of our young warriors.

Coach Peterman

I'm game for helping...I think we need to break it down smaller to Districts (like the 4 set up for kids) and have coaches say, hey we got this or that guy...same thing with leagues and conferences...I think Regionals would be the best target of any, then have a rep at the 3a, 4a, and 5 and 6a states talking about FS/Greco Duals for Jr. and Cadets.

that sounds right on the spot aaron, you are right, set up a booth, cause im sure if you setup a booth that says "team kansas" alot of the folkstylers would be like "i wanna be on team kansas" Diddo Aaron, diddo

Just thought I’d add some thoughts about our Cadet & Junior programs since we were involved for many years –

Our family was involved for many years with the Cadet and Juniors’ while Danny participated and we hope to be again with Gavin in future years if he wants to compete at this level. Danny also was a Schoolboy Team Coach in previous years and has some knowledge about what it takes to put these dual teams together. However, we also know the commitment it takes from each of these wrestlers and their families to be a part of these teams.

The coaches for both teams do an excellent job in getting wrestlers. While others may think it is an easy task, it is not. They give a lot of VOLUNTEER time away from their families during this time to put these teams together, as well as attending the tournaments and camps. It’s not just a commitment from coaches and wrestlers, but their families also. I remember one year we were ready to leave for the duals and got a phone call from one of the coaches asking if we knew anyone who could fill in at a particular weight. The vans were already on the road and the coaches received a phone call a few hours earlier (from a shopping mall) that “Johnny” would not be going!! While these coaches begged and pleaded (we also offered to go and pick the wrestler up on our way), they were still turned down. Easy for a coach to put an entire team together – I don’t think so!!!! As I believe Coach Peterman said, there phone bills were very high during the time they were putting teams together. I’m sure they worked very hard to put together a competitive team to attend these duals.

If there is a wrestler who is interested, he (or she) must be willing to commit the extra time during the summer and get out and compete in tournaments around the State. The coaches are available at the FS/GR State Tournament (Kids State too in the t-shirt stand) and I believe email addresses are available on our web page. Face it, most of these wrestlers are in high school and it's time they take some initative and contact the coaches themselves. However, as adults, let them know and help them out if you know of a wrestler who is interested. I’m sure they would be glad to know of someone. In the past, they have selected teams from our State Freestyle/Greco Roman tournament and tournaments held throughout the summer. However, remember, Freestyle & Greco are different from Folkstyle and these wrestlers need to be working out continuously and competing if they are going to be competitive at the dual and Fargo tournaments. You cannot just “walk in” and compete successfully. These tournaments are brutal and the years Danny participated, it was not uncommon to have wrestlers sitting out different times because their bodies were so “beat up” from the tournament and they needed a match or two to “heal”. It would be so nice to have two complete teams competing, but it is almost next to impossible for these coaches to put teams together and expect everyone to stay committed.

Wrestlers during Danny’s years of participation were from around the State of Kansas. They were not just from the KC and Wichita areas as some indicated. The coaches selected the best that wanted to compete from across of State, east to west and north to south.

For some, there are other issues that we may not be aware of. There are other sports camps (heaven forbid), financial issues, job related issues, family vacations, a need for a “sports break”, or they may be saving up to purchase a vehicle. The coaches may have several names in a weight class but only a few in others to contact. After making several phone calls to fill a weight, it becomes very difficult to find someone to commit, who is in shape and ready to compete at this level. Don’t be so quick to judge wrestlers and/or coaches UNLESS you know the entire situation behind it all. Even though it is hard for some of us to say, there are other things more important than wrestling in life!! Each of our lives are way to short so don’t be so quick to blame until you are 100% sure of someone’s situation or why a coach may have not selected “your” wrestler.

Our state is cheaper than most. While I was a pairer at the national tournament in Fargo and at Southern Plains, I asked around to see what other states wrestlers paid to attend these tournaments. It all varied, but Kansas was one of the cheaper states that I found. Most wrestlers were required to attend camps held prior to these tournaments and come as a “State Team”. We can be glad our State is willing to help finance these programs to some degree.

We have freestyle directors in each District at the Kids Level. Maybe this would be a good project for them to undertake and submit names to the Cadet & Junior coaches of wrestlers who are competing in their area. Coach Peterman – let’s bring this up at our Kids Exec. Council Meeting. As I said earlier, let Coach Peterman, Coach Garcia, and Coach Rieck know about these wrestlers if you know of someone. They are not hard to get a hold of and will get back with you I’m sure.

Thanks coaches and wrestlers for participating in one of the greatest sports around. Your commitment to the sport, allows you to be to best you can be. It shows your dedication to the youth in our State! Also, congrats to all who attended the Duals & the National Tournament in Fargo. While some came home as All-Americans, others came home with a lot of memories and new friendships!

Leanna Grater

Fantastic post Leanna! You've explained the situation very well.

Great post Leanne. It is so difficult for these coaches to find kids, I know that. And it should not be just the coaches as stated above that are finding these kids. Kansas is a great wrestling state and it is far above a lot, but way behind others. We also have to remember that wrestling isn't the world to everyone. To some of us, it is our favorite sport and hobby and to others it is something they like to do. We also have to remember the time, dedication, and financial burdens that all the tournaments and travel can put on families. One of my big questions is, are some of these kids ready for Fargo? I know so many kids that go up there and spend hundreds of dollars to go 0-2. Honestly I think the duals are a better bet for a lot of these kids.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to have every top kid in the state competing, but it will be hard to get that to happen. There have been a lot of great ideas on this post and I think everyone needs to keep it positive and think of ideas instead of blaming coaches, wrestlers, and parents.

One idea I would like to throw out is to choose coaches from different parts of the state. I know of a few states that choose coaches from either North to South or East to West. They are in charge of getting the kids in their area involved and recruiting them to these teams and for these competitions. Kansas could split it up into for Districts, kind of like they do for kids qualifications. Each coach would then get kids interested and find them clubs to workout with and get them involved.

Just some ideas, but I know it isn't a lack of effort on the most part that is hurting Kansas.

Great showing at Fargo, it was fun to see the results these kids produced.